League of Legends 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Review

23 May 2017 09:44

SK Telecom T1 were crowned Mid-Season Invitational champions for the second year in a row after a 3-1 victory over G2 eSports in a sensational final in Brazil.

The Teams

One representative from each professional LoL league took part, resulting in thirteen teams battling it out for the MSI title, regional glory and the $676,000 first-place prize. The regional teams were seeded based on their results from their performances in the world championships and MSI over the past two years. The South Korean, Chinese and European representatives – SK Telecom T1, WE and G2 eSports – were automatically seeded into the Group Stage, so didn’t compete in the play-in stage.

The thirteen teams competing in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro were;

Red Canids - Brazil

WE - China

Virtus.pro - Commonwealth of Independent States

G2 Esports - Europe

Rampage - Japan

SK Telecom T1 - Korea

Lyon Gaming - Latin America North

Isurus Gaming - Latin America South

Team SoloMid - North America

Dire Wolves - Oceania

GIGABYTE Marines - Southeast Asia

Flash Wolves - Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau

SuperMassive eSports – Turkey

The Invitational Format

The MSI - hosted by Riot Games and streamed live on Twitch – employs a three-stage structure, with the play-in stage held 28 April – 6 May, the group stage from 10-14 May, and the knockout stage on 19-21 May.

There were three rounds in the play-in stage, with Round One matches presented in a double round robin, best-of-one format. Eight teams were split into two different pools, with Red Canids, SK Telecom T1, SuperMassive eSports and Virtus.pro in Pool One, and Rampage, Lyon Gaming, Isurus Gaming and Dire Wolves grouped together in Pool Two.

SuperMassive eSports and GIGABYTE both topped their respective pools to make it through to the best-of-five Round Two, which also included TSM and Flash Wolves who entered proceedings at that stage. TSM triumphed 3-1 over GIGABYTE Marines, and Flash Wolves beat Super Massive eSports 3-0, with the winners automatically qualifying for the group stages, and the losers having to enter Round Three. GIGABYTE Marines finally made it through to the group stages with a 3-1 victory over Super Massive eSports in Round Three.

The group stage contained six teams, battling in a round robin format, with the top four teams progressing through to the knockout semi-finals. Here are the final group stage standings:

1st. SK Telecom T1, 8 wins, 2 losses

2nd: WE, 7 wins, 3 losses

3rd: GS Esports, 4 wins, 6 losses

4th: Flash Wolves, 4 wins, 6 losses

5th: Team SoloMid, 4 wins, 6 losses

6th: GIGABYTE Marines, 3 wins, 7 losses

In the tie-breaker between 4th and 5th place to decide who made it through to the semi-finals, Flash Wolves beat Team SoloMid 1-0.

The knockout stages – a best-of-five elimination bracket – saw SK Telecom T1 beat Flash Wolves in the first semi-final, and GS ESports then triumphed 3-1 over WE to set up a final for the $676,000 first prize.

The Final and SK Telecom T1

In the final, SK Telecom T1 overcame GS Esports by an impressive 3-1 scoreline to become back-to-back MSI champions, continuing their streak as unquestionably the best LoL team on the planet. Formed in 2014, the team are enjoying another impressive year after also winning the LCK 2017 Spring Playoffs and LCK 2017 Spring Season.

Korean-born Han “Peanut” Wang-ho was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) after several notable displays. The SK Telecom T1 jungler had a Kill/Deaths/Assists (KDA) ratio of 11.0, and racked up an impressive 32 kills, six deaths and a 72% kill participation in the knockout stages. The 19-year-old has been with the MSI 2017 winners since November 2016, having previously played for NaJin e-mFire and ROX Tigers.

The Prize Pool

The prize pool was $1,000,000, and teams were awarded the following winnings based on their overall standings:

1st place: SK Telecom T1 - $676,000

2nd place: G2 - $338,000

3rd place: Flash Wolves - $169,000

4th place: WE - $169,000

5th place: Team SoloMid – $84,500

6th place: GIGABYTE Marines - $84,500

7th place: SuperMassive eSports - $42,250

8th place: RED Canids - $25,350

9th place: Lyon Gaming - £25,350

10th place: Dire Wolves - $21,125

11th place: Virtus.pro - $21,125

12th place: Rampage - $16,900

13th place: Isurus Gaming - $16,900

After their performances in Brazil, the top four teams – SK Telecom T1, G2, Flash Wolves and WE – have been now named top seeds for the 2017 World Championships, which begin this September in China.